Saturday, March 20, 2010

Two Days in Texas

March 19, 2010

March 20, 2010

This is a bit much...even for Texas. We just had dinner out and it started snowing while we were eating. When we walked outside, Colin said, "Where did this come from?!". My sentiments exactly!

The First Day of Winter...er...Spring?

It is 40, that's right 40, degrees colder today than it was yesterday. We went from sunny and 75 to snow and 35. Happy First Day of Spring! Good grief!! This has been a very cold winter for us warm blooded Texans and it is still trying to hang on. We had plans to meet all of our friends over at Central Market this evening for a fun night on the patio, listening to live music and letting the kids play on the playground. Needless to say, that was cancelled. I am ready for winter to finally pack it in once and for all!!

I took Colin to Safari Park this morning, which was decidedly NOT a good idea. The weather is so horrible, so I figured it would be the perfect way to burn some hours and energy with the kiddo. What I neglected to realize is that today is Saturday and that means birthday parties. As in "mass crowd of kids and parents packed into a small space" birthday parties. As in "giant 12 year olds that are clearly too big for the playground" birthday parties. Man, it was a mess. Colin and I could not even find a place to stand...it was that crowded. We ended up having to leave after only 30 minutes (we were the first ones there, so I had no idea that insanity was going to ensue). I took Colin to McDonald's for a conciliatory ice cream cone and he cheered right up. :-) The good part of the morning was getting to actually witness Safari Park during the parties. I have toyed with the idea of having Colin's birthday there later this summer, but now I am absolutely certain that it won't work for us. That kind of chaos gives me a panic attack. :-)

It looks like the rest of our day will be spent hiding out indoors while it snows. Yes, snow. Did I say Happy Spring yet?

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

A Cooking Post...FINALLY!

I just wanted to let everyone know that I actually posted about dinner tonight on the cooking blog after a decade of no posts. ;-) It was delish, so if anyone is interested, check it out!

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Spring Break with Gabby

We just spent a wonderful morning with Dana and Gabby! Our original plan involved going to the park with lunch afterwards, but typical of spring in Texas, the weather did not cooperate. We switched to plan B, which was playing at Safari Park. This was Gabby's first visit to Colin's favorite destination and I think she had a great time. Colin absolutely adores this little girl and always has a great time with her. He plays remarkably well with her and she has the perfect temperament to mesh well with Colin. She does not get her feathers ruffled too easily and is so calm and sweet. They called each other over and over again on two "phones" and made themselves a picnic lunch. They were just so cute!! The only issue was getting Colin to leave...I may have to rethink play dates at Safari Park. Colin would literally NEVER leave! He loves it so much and when we go by ourselves, we always spend more than two hours there (frequently even longer!). Dana and I wanted to have lunch AND we were running late this morning, so Colin only got about an hour of play before I had to ask him to leave. He was not a happy camper and our exit involved me carrying a kicking screaming toddler out to the car...not great. Needless to say, lunch did not start out on a good note. ;-) We went to Five Guys Burgers and Colin and Gabby picked out our table. Colin even asked to sit by Gabby instead of me, so I know he is seriously in love with her. hehe!! Colin cheered up once our food arrived and then as he began eating the little bites of hot dog that I cut up, he bit his finger HARD. Lovely. Now this is my favorite part of the whole thing....right as Colin bit his finger, Gabby was singing him a song. As Colin launched into hysterical tears, Gabby looked at Dana and said with utter seriousness, "I guess he didn't like my song!". I WAS ROLLING!!!!!!!!! Oh my gosh, I love these kids!! Colin was really upset after that and spent the rest of lunch alternating between eating and showing me his hurt finger while tears ran down his cheeks. What are the odds?! Gabby was so sweet and kept offering Colin bites of her grilled cheese and fries. She is really one of the most wonderful little girls I have ever met. She has such a calm and generous nature and Colin is really taken with her. He talked about her the entire way home while telling me that he loves her. He has never been shy around her, which says a lot. It was a great morning despite the upset at lunch and I can't wait to hang out with them again.


Here is a picture that I took at lunch and it pretty much sums up the experience. Poor Colin! I hope this is the last time that he takes a bite out of his own finger. ;-)




Gabby and Colin share their "picnic" at Safari Park. No, they did not invite the other little girl to join them. LOL!

They were just SO CUTE together!!


Here they are talking to each other on the phones. They were seriously chatting!


Now, because I am me...I had to reminisce a little. ;-) Here is our play date with Dana and Gabby last year for their spring break! Look how much they have grown!! I love it!

Monday, March 15, 2010

Our Weekend

Jer is just finishing up a three day weekend, which was heaven sent. He is working a LOT at the moment and has not had many days off recently, so we tried to soak up every ounce of time with him we could. Things started out famously when my sister Alieson arrived on my doorstep bright and early Saturday morning with a raspberry mocha for me. :-) Jer did yard work and then we went over to pet the precious baby goats at the little farm down the street. I came very close to trying to smuggle one out of there...they were SO CUTE! We also fed the ducks and then spent some time at the park. After our busy day, we shared ice cream and frozen yogurt at the new shop that opened within walking distance to the house!! It is called "Blue Cherry" and they have all kinds of frozen yogurt, pastries, coffees and desserts. They have only been open for about a month and we go all the time! We are so thankful that it opened!!

Here are a couple of Colin with the goats...SO PRECIOUS!


Would you say that Colin liked his ice cream? ;-)



Yesterday was "A Day Out with Thomas the Tank Engine", which I purchased tickets for several weeks ago with our friends. That did not exactly go well, but it could have been far worse. Just as I expected, it did not go according to plan. Colin was excited about it and was very happy as we walked from the car over to the event. Once inside, however, he quickly got overwhelmed and wanted to leave. It was absolutely packed. Despite already starting to melt down, he asked to jump in the Thomas bounce house. We got his shoes off and he started to go in, but there were already several kids inside and it was really loud. He came right back out in tears. At this point, the giant Thomas engine was pulling back into the station from the previous ride and Colin was thrilled to see him...complete with steam and his signature toot. Even I thought it was pretty cool! :-) At this point, we had to be in a very long and chaotic line in order to get on board for our turn and Colin was just not having that. After the experience with the North Pole Express, I knew better than to drag him on board kicking and screaming. Once he is that upset, it is just not happening. The good news is that once the huge crowd for the 11:30am train boarded, the place was almost vacated! We had around 30 minutes with the run of the place before the train returned and the passengers for the next trip arrived. Colin immediately cheered up and had a blast! He spent a good deal of time checking out the model trains, which is one of his favorite things in the world. He saw Sir Topam Hat, toured the whole area, and then spent a LONG time in the petting zoo. He was beside himself over that one! He even got to watch a real blacksmith working. He was very impressed with that, too! All in all, we ended up having a wonderful time and Colin thought it was amazing to see Thomas in real life. It is pretty unfortunate that we did not use the expensive tickets, but at least he had fun in the end. I have learned my lesson, however, and won't be spending lots of money on tickets to ride crowded trains anymore! :-) We also rolled the clocks forward on Sunday, which I HATE. I was in such a rush on Sunday morning that I managed to forget my CAMERA to take to Thomas, as well as my cell phone. I felt naked all day. After the Thomas experience, we all had lunch at our favorite mexican place in Grapevine and then hit two different parks and the pet store. Jer even managed to wash and wax both cars, with Colin's help. ;-) It was a beautiful and busy day!

Today has been more low key with lunch at a chinese buffet (which Colin loved) and yet another trip to the park. This one has a sandbox and Colin was all over it. We are going to be finding sand for days!! In fact, he fell asleep on the way home, so I just brought him straight into the house and laid him down on Jer's side of our bed. He actually stayed asleep for the transfer (unheard of!) but that means he is currently leaving a pile of sand in our bed. I think we may have to wash the sheets before the day is out! I am not looking forward to Jer going back to work tomorrow, but I am very excited to see Dana and Gabby! They are on Spring Break this week, so we get to hang out tomorrow! YEA! :-)
Colin in the sandbox this afternoon.


"helping" Daddy wash the cars...with a mop. He is so dang cute!
 
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